Curse
by Sensuto
Summary: I looked into those calm eyes and thought if I could do this. Give up my dreams and wishes of love for my clan and village... I knew what I had to do... " I will marry you Namikaze-sama."... NARUSAKU...Rated M for violence, sexual themes late in the story. Pic courtesy Muse Silver
1. The Meeting

This is a total AU with little to no resemblance to the canon.

 **Disclaimer:** Do not own Naruto

* * *

Chapter 1: THE MEETING

We were back in the Land of Rivers. Pakkun has left us to find Team Gai and lead them to us. From the position of the sun I guessed that it was three or four hours past noon. The red rectangular barrier that we had spotted on the horizon awhile ago just disappeared. A few moments later the sound of a muffled explosion reached our ears and we all tensed involuntarily. I calculated that if we continue at our current pace we would arrive there in a little under fifteen minutes.

Our team was moving in a wide square formation with that old lady Chiyo in the centre, not that she needed any protection if the speed with which she had attacked Sensei was anything to go by. Sensei was leading with Sasuke-teme to his left. He kept removing his headband at regular intervals to inspect the surroundings with his sharingan. _Guess, he doesn't trust teme enough to do it for him._ Even in my exhausted state I managed to snicker mentally at my own joke. Sakura nee-chan and I were bringing up the rear.

I was beyond exhausted by then and by the looks of it my team mates were not faring any better. Three days of continuous travel from Konoha to Suna at a hurried pace, with short breaks and a Kazekage with even shorter temper as travelling companion, is no joke. We only got half a day's rest before we had to set out again with Chiyo baa-chan to track the Akatsuki. On top of that Onee-chan had to heal the Kazekage's eldest son's wounds and remove Sasori's poison from his body. I nearly missed a tree branch on my next leap due to the utter fatigue in my muscles, which screamed for respite.

"Nawaki, eat a food pill.", I heard my sister's voice coming from my left, prompting me to make a disgusted face.

"Don't make that face, idiot! They taste bad because of all the nutrients and boosters in it.", her indignant voice floated to my ears. I took a pill from my jounin vest and popped it in my mouth without any further argument. I did not want to be on the receiving end of my sister's wrath, just because I found the food pills made by her to be disgusting.

"Get ready and be careful. The residual chakra in the air is very high even at this distance. ETA five minutes.", Kakashi-sensei's usual nonchalant tone was unusually stern and on edge.

We all acknowledged his words, while Sasuke… well he grunted as usual. I looked over to my sister to check on her. Her pink hair was pulled into a high ponytail, and the usual vibrant colour was dull with sweat and grit. Her green jounin vest had a single blood stain on the right side. _Probably from when she was healing Kankurou._ She looked less fatigued compared to the last time I checked , she must have followed her own advice and eaten a food pill.

"We are here.", Sasuke's clipped tone made me face forward to take in the picture presented to us.

We stopped at the edge of a clearing and going by the looks, it wasn't there until recently. The ground was wet with puddles of water scattered around. Shredded and splintered trees lay around carelessly. The burn marks from the barrier that we had seen earlier was clearly visible on the ground at the edge of the clearing. All those things dwarfed in comparison to what held my attention then. There was a sizable crater in the middle of the clearing, with pieces of what appeared to be broken puppets strewn around it haphazardly. The scene before us could very well be compared to the devastation left in the wake of some force of nature.

I was brought out of my musings when a hand was placed on my shoulder. I looked behind to see my sister looking at something to our far left. I faced in that direction to see Gaara, the Kazekage's youngest child, lying motionless on the ground under the shade of a tree, with a raven haired man standing in front of his form, kunai in each hand. He had a cloth mask up to his nose very much like the one our teacher had. He was clad in a sleeveless red haori with black flames adorning the bottom edge, under which he had a dark blue full sleeved shirt. Black pants with weapon pouches, black gloves and boots completed his clothing. Thus, the part of his face above his mask was effectively the only part of his body open for the world to see. I could also make out the handle of a blade peeking out from under his haori, probably a katana. No village symbol was present on his clothing, neither did he have any symbol resembling the red clouds that the members of the Akatsuki supposedly wear.

Sensei, Sasuke and old lady Chiyo were walking towards the man, with Sensei speaking in low tones. I suppose me and Sakura onee-chan are backup since we were left behind. _Damn, why do I have to be the backup?_

"I know what you are thinking, Otouto.", my sister's even tone cut through my thoughts as her grip on my shoulder tightened. I wasn't going anywhere, my shoulders slumped in defeat.

Suddenly, the man's hand shot out and the kunai that was previously in his right hand embedded itself in front of Sensei's feet. The next moment I was beside Chiyo baa-chan while Onee-chan was beside Sasuke, to the right and left of Sensei respectively. My hands were already at the last seal of my jutsu and waiting for a signal to release it.

"I said that's close enough", the man's stoic voice was unnerving but at the same time it sounded tired. I guess we were not the only exhausted ones in the clearing. I think the five of us could easily take out the shinobi before us if the need arose.

As if hearing my thoughts , the shinobi turned his gaze towards me and pinned me with his steeled cerulean eyes. At that moment, I knew that one mistake was all it would take for me to never face the monstrous strength of my sister or mother, and right then even breathing seemed to be a huge mistake on my part.

* * *

The man standing before us was tall, as tall as Kakashi-sensei. Most of his face was covered but I could make out that he was not much older than me. He was lean but every part of his body screamed of strength. His long and spiky dark hair was tied behind him in a ponytail very much alike Otou-san. Now that I was closer and had a clear sight of him, the medic in me was already categorizing his injuries. His clothes had cuts in a few places but the little amount of skin visible through those cuts was unbroken albeit covered in dried blood. _Strange, there's blood but no visible wound._ He looked tired and seemed to be having trouble breathing. _Broken puppets. Sasori. Poison._ I connected the dots and had a somewhat clear picture of what happened here. This man had fought Sasori it seems and has been poisoned.

I saw him shift his attention towards my brother before speaking, "Drop the hand seal, boy."

I didn't dare to look away from him to check on my brother. A part of me knew beyond doubt that the man before us was responsible for the destruction around us, and any man who could come out of such confrontation with only cuts and tears on his clothes was not to be trifled with. I felt Sasuke tense beside me. _I guess even he is not arrogant enough to dismiss the threat before us._ In spite of all this we still had no inkling to what this mysterious man's intentions are.

"As I said before Shinobi-san, we are the members of the team sent to retrieve the Yondaime Kazekage's son from the members of the Akatsuki who kidnapped him.", Kakashi-sensei spoke up, obviously trying to placate the increasing tension.

"Identify yourselves first.", the man spoke up again in his tense but tired voice, addressing Sensei.

And like every other thing which is inevitable, my brother's brash nature finally came through, "Oi! You are the one holding Gaara captive, you should identify yourself first!"

"Quiet, Nawaki!", Sensei hissed. I have never seen Sensei so tense before, not even when Zabuza had attacked us in the Land of Waves back when we were Genin.

Strangely, the man's previously hard eyes reflected something akin to a little mirth at my brother's outburst, as if he had seen it before.

"I am not holding Gaara-kun captive, but you will identify yourselves before you go anywhere near him.", this was the most that I had heard him speak since the beginning of our meeting.

Lady Chiyo who had been quiet all this time finally spoke up, "I am Chiyo of Suna. I am accompanying this team of Leaf Jounin in their search for the Kazekage's son."

"Hatake Kakashi, captain of this Jounin team, along with Senju Sakura, Senju Nawaki and Uchiha Sasuke.", Sensei spoke, pointing towards each of us as he introduced us.

"Show me your Sharingan Kakashi… you too Uchiha.", the man was having more trouble speaking with each passing moment. Nonetheless, Sensei removed his headband to reveal his Sharingan as Sasuke activated his.

"You can never be too careful these days, I had to be sure.", the man sighed before falling to his knees. Gaara, who was lying behind him, dissolved into a puddle of water.

The poison seemed to be taking its toll. The medic in me wanted to rush to his aid, I already had three antidotes to Sasori's poison with me, but we still didn't know his identity. On top of that the person we thought to be Gaara turned out to be water clone.

Perhaps it was the man's vulnerable state that emboldened us. Lady Chiyo was the first to act, she took out a kunai from her sleeves and pointed it towards the man, "If you value you your life you will tell us where Gaara is, Shinobi."

Sasuke unsheathed his chokuto and Nawaki took out his scythes. Kakashi sensei and I took out our kunai and settled into our offensive stances, a warning for the enemy that we were prepared to strike.

The man chose not to reply, instead he glared at us. Nonetheless, he complied as two of his clones appeared from the forest behind him with an unconscious Gaara supported between them. Carefully laying Gaara on the ground they too dissolved into water. Lady Chiyo moved to Gaara's side to check on him while our team stayed with the man.

"I am not your enemy, so put away your weapons before you hurt yourselves.", the man seemed to be irritated.

"You are in no position now to tell us what to do Shinobi-san. Like you said we can never be too careful nowadays and we still don't know who you are.", it was Kakashi sensei who spoke up, ready to attack with his sharingan revealed.

The killing intent that flooded the clearing was oppressive enough to send us reeling back. I was almost down on my knees and was gasping for breath. Sasuke and Nawaki were not faring any better, and even Kakashi Sensei was barely holding up. Multiple splashes of water alerted me that the man had used jutsu, but I was barely holding up to do anything.

I turned my head on hearing gasps coming from my team. The sight that greeted me confirmed my earlier thoughts of how outmatched we were. Nawaki and Sasuke were each held by two of the man's clones with kunai held to their exposed necks, their own weapons lying before them. Nawaki was cursing under his breath while Sasuke was glaring at the man, his sharingan spinning and radiating every ounce of hatred that he could muster. The puddles before them confirmed that they had at least dispatched some water clones before they had been taken captive. Kakashi sensei had managed to block two clones but a third stood with his kunai pointed towards the base of his brain, one push and it would be over for him. Two more clones stood behind Lady Chiyo, who silently continued checking on Gaara but her tensed jaw showed that she was not ignorant to the predicament we found ourselves in. I was the only one who was not held captive by a clone.

"Like I said before I am not your enemy and you would have been dead if I had been one.", the man paused to look at me, his eyes calculating as if confirming something.

When I was a young child I would feel helpless when people teased me for my hair and forehead, when I became a genin I used to feel helpless in face of danger and always rely on my teammates but that was the past. My mother had made sure of it, I had made sure of it. I am a jounin now, so right then I was not sure what made me more angry… seeing my teammates held captive or this stranger treating me like a helpless doll who was not worth wasting a water clone on. I felt all my restrictions break away as the rage in me threatened to erupt as my chakra started to move towards my limbs, concentrating and preparing for the onslaught.

The man's calm but tired voice halted my actions, "I didn't want to anger the only person who could remove this poison from my body, which I am sure you have already noticed, but it seems I have unknowingly done exactly that by not treating you as a threat. It seems that the byakugou and her medical skills were not the only thing your mother passed onto…"

The unconscious man lay face down in the wet and muddy ground without finishing what he intended to say. His water clones disappeared with his consciousness and I was left wandering as to who exactly the man was to know about the significance of the purple diamond on my forehead. Very few people has seen the power of the byakugou and anyone outside our village had not survived to tell about it.

My hand shot out almost reflexively to catch Sasuke's hand to stop him from beheading the stranger with his blade. His irate sharingan shifted towards me to question my actions.

"What are you doing Sakura?",Sasuke asked.

"He knew about the byakugou but I have never met him before. He also seems to know my mother, and any person my mother shows the byakugou and lets live must be an ally.", I replied matching his glare.

"He could be an enemy who is simply stronger than your mother.", Sasuke shot back. Nawaki didn't say anything but he seemed to agree. Sensei who seemed to be in deep thought finally spoke up.

"And yet we are here alive. Like the man said we would be dead if he was an enemy."

"This could be an trick to make us lower our guard.", Nawaki piped in.

"Look around you Nawaki, do you think a person capable of this needs cheap tricks. He could have held you captive and forced me to heal him at the very beginning.", I replied neither taking my eyes off Sasuke nor releasing his hand.

"I agree, still we will be careful.", Kakashi said moving to tie the man's hands with chakra reinforced wires. He motioned for Nawaki to help him to move the man. They settled him against the trunk of the tree near which Gaara was lying with Lady Chiyo checking on him. Nawaki used to his mokouton to bind the man to the tree just to be cautious as I moved to apply the antidote.

"Gaara is alright, except for a concussion. Probably from the fight with the explosive using Akatsuki member.", Lady Chiyo informed us.

"Good. I think we can assume that this man somehow rescued Gaara.", I nodded to Sensei's conclusion as I injected the antidote into the man's left bicep through one of the cuts in his shirt, "but we still don't know for what intents and purposes."

"So what now?", Nawaki asked as I moved back from my place beside the bound man. Sasuke still had his sharingan turned on, silently glaring at the unconscious prisoner.

"Be on guard, we don't know what happened to the Akatsuki. They may decide to come back with reinforcements. Can you heal Gaara enough to wake him up?", Sensei paused to see lady Chiyo nod before continuing, "We will move for Suna with the prisoner as soon as Gaara regains consciousness. We will drop Lady Chiyo and Gaara at Suna before requesting for reinforcements to help bring the prisoner back to Konoha. Sakura can you make sure that he remains unconscious in the meantime?"

I nodded and activated my mystical palm. One touch to the base of his skull and it was done.

"He will be out for a week unless someone reverses it.", I informed my teammates.

"We should check under his mask and see if we can recognize him?", Sasuke finally broke his silence, and shifted to look at Sensei asking for his thoughts on the matter.

"You just want to see the face of the man who beat you so easily.", Nawaki quipped earning him a glare from Sasuke. My idiot of a brother had the gift of making fun of Sasuke even in such tense situations.

"We were no better Nawaki.", I spoke up, smiling at the overdramatic slump of his shoulders. I looked to Sensei who nodded, signaling me to go ahead.

A thin tendril a sand wrapped around my wrist stopping my fingers millimeters from the stranger's mask.

* * *

"What do you think you are doing?", Gaara's cool voice interrupted everyone's thoughts. Even Chiyo who was healing him seemed surprised.

"You should learn to respect a man's privacy Sakura-san.", Gaara continued as he sat up with Chiyo's help.

"A prisoner has no privacy, Gaara.", Sasuke replied, as Sakura removed her released hand back.

"Menma-san is a friend who it seems rescued me and as far as I know is an ally of the leaf.", Gaara said his voice getting colder and gaze intensifying even further.

The Konoha ninja were stunned into silence on hearing this, even Chiyo seemed surprised. Sakura who was crouching beside the man looked closer to see if he could identify the man, but she drew a blank.

The group heard the leaves rustling in the forest and tensed to prepare for an attack. Several Suna ninja dropped into the clearing who seemed to have been led by the Kazkage's only daughter, Temari, who rushed to Gaara and embraced him in a hug.

After a few moments of fussing over her brother she turned towards the Konoha ninja, who were still silent after thr latest revealation, to thank them for saving her brother when she saw the bound man.

"What are you doing to Menma-san?!", Temari exclaimed surprised.

Kakashi's team were stunned further, it seemed they were the only ones who didn't know the man. For the second time that day Nawaki asked his question, "So what now?"

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 **A/N:** If you are wondering how Gaara knew who recued him if he was unconscious the entire time don't worry it will be explained. Nothing else to be said except read&review and wait for the next chapter.


	2. Identity

**Disclaimer: Do not own Naruto.**

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Identity

 _Even though a lot of time has passed since the last time I saw it, the awe has not lessened one bit. Nine of its tails thrashing about destroying anything in its vicinity, the blood curdling roar and the pressure of its malicious chakra… it still inspired the fear and respect in me, even after all these years. What happened Kushina…?_

 _The ANBU captain behind me was saying something but I managed to catch only a bit of it, "…arutobi-sama will be leading the attack from the east. You were asked to hold the west side with the men under your command. We are to hold till Yondaime-sama arrives."_

" _Get all the Uchiha with an active sharingan in the lead. Tell them to work together and try to put it in a genjutsu. The Hyuga will be in charge of evacuation, they are authorized to use the secret village tunnels. The rest of us will split into two groups… one under me will support the Uchiha, the rest will be under you captain in evacuation support and as our backup."_

 _I didn't wait for the confirmation… I couldn't. This had to stop before Hashirama's dream burns to the ground._

" _Suiton: Rasenshuriken."_

"…ikaze-sama. Oi! Old man can you hear me?" The bright light that was being flashed in my eyes and that familiar gruff voice chased away those bad recollections as I was pulled into the present world. I opened my eyes to see my tormentor and savior pocket a flashlight as she checked me.

"Nice to see you too, Tsu-tsu. Where am I?"

"Where else… Konoha hospital of course. Two Namikaze in the village at the same time, I must be dreaming in my bed after having some excellent sex." Tsunade spoke all the while passing chakra through my legs which I noticed had gone numb.

I groaned listening to her crude language. I turned my head a little to see the other Namikaze, the village's Hokage, staring at me. So it has begun already.

* * *

 **Several hours earlier:**

Why is it that I always have to do the heavy lifting. I have been carrying an unconscious Menma on my back for three hours now and we were still more than half a day from Konoha.

Why couldn't we be the ones to escort Gaara and the rest of the Sand shinobi back to their village, while Gai's team carried the prisoner back to Konoha. Gai and Lee would practically revel in the opportunity of having a decent exercise(by their standards).

This time I was in the centre of the group carrying Menma on my back, Sasuke and Onee-chan flanked me while Sensei led the group.

"Sensei, we need to setup camp and rest. Nawaki's getting tired and I think it will be dangerous to move on the trees, now that the sun's already set.", seeing me beginning to protest, my sister shot me a look that shut me up immediately.

Hearing my sister speak, Sensei stopped on his next leap forcing us to stop behind him.

"No fires, we will remain in the trees and we rest till dawn. We will bind the prisoner like before on the branch I am standing on. I will take first watch, Sasuke next, then Sakura and finally Nawaki since he needs to rest the most. Those of us who are resting will surround the target, as they rest, ready to ambush if the need arises. Nawaki help me bind him, Sakura check his status and Sasuke keep a lookout.", Sensei finished giving us our precise orders as he took out chakra reinforced wires again for the second time today.

My teammates were unusually quiet as my sister checked Menma's condition after we finished securing him.

"What's wrong, Sakura?", it was Sensei who broke the silence in the group.

"Is it right to treat him like this. We should have at least let him explain himself before just knocking him out and carrying him to the village like a common missing nin. What if he really turns out to be an ally?"

"Like I said before Sakura, we cannot be sure. Just because Gaara's team met him on a mission and was helped by him after he introduced himself as an ally of the Leaf, we cannot trust him. I will not endanger my team based on someone's word.", Sensei reasoned with onee-chan, who still didn't look convinced.

My sister had been the only one in our team to protest our treatment of Menma. Except for her, Gaara and Temari we had all decided that waking him up when he was healthy would be too risky for us. Since the Leaf was in charge of the mission, Gaara and Temari's reservations with the decision was ignored and Sakura-neechan was simply outvoted.

Onee-chan nodded and then left to look for a resting place still unconvinced. Sasuke and I noddded to sensei as we too moved to find our resting places.

"What's wrong, Sasuke?" he was a little too quiet even by his standards.

Sasuke and I were rivals but I still considered him a friend, a brother even, and considering the clans we hailed from that was quite an achievement. The only time when there was any actual animosity beteween us was when he had tried to defect to Oruchimaru, but it has been years since we got over it. Some people even compared our friendship to that of Hashirama and Madara, although I sincerely hope that we don't end up like them.

"We were like bugs to him. He was poisoned and even then we hardly scratched him." Sasuke's cool voice broke me out of my thoughts. He didn't need to explain, the thought had been bugging me too.

We stopped on a branch as I spoke up, "We were just caught off guard you know. Who knew he could make water clones without handseals." Sasuke nodded but from his faraway look I understood that he was far from placated. Sasuke hated to be overshadowed and feeling outmatched, having lived under the shadow of his brother his entire life.

"Alright." He sighed before speaking with a smirk, "Now get out of here, I found this branch first."

"Bastard." I grinned, patting him on his back I jumped off to look for my own place.

It was Sasuke's turn to carry Menma. I was to his right, Sakura-neechan who was still quiet was to his left and Sensei was leading. The sun was alredy setting when we caught the first glimpse of the village west gate. I breathed a sigh of relief. This was one of the most, if not the most, exciting and tiring missions of my twenty year old life.

We found Izumo and Kotetsu on guard duty with a captain of the police force supervising. I grinned seeing this, because it seemed the slackers had an Uchiha captain and had no time to goof off. The dark pupils of the captain shifted to its blood red majesty as he asked for our identities. The sharingan was quiet a lie detectorand a captain was quite adept in using it. I have never succeded in lying to Sasuke while he had his sharingan trained on me.

Sensei requested for an escort to take us and our prisoner to the hospital, and to also inform the Hokage of our arrival. Five minutes later a full Uchiha police squad, comprising of four members, dropped around us as we moved for the hospital. The captain at the gate had already finished calling the hokage tower on his radio by the time we were leaving.

The secure wing of the hospital was an extension of the main building but had a separate entrance. By the time we arrived the wing was ready for us. Sensei requested for a S-rank holding room. Having already witnessed Menma's prowess neither I nor my team was surprised on hearing this. The police squad dismissed themselves as an ANBU squad took their place.

According to protocol, the Director of Konoha's medical wing has to be present during the medical checkup of any high A-rank or higher ranked prisoner. Kaa-chan must have left for the day for she would have been here by now if she was in the hospital. My suspicion was confirmed when I heard the receptionist trying to relay the message to get Okaa-chan to the hospital on her radio. Being the son of the Director really gives you some insight into the protocols.

We were taken to the third floor, the hospital wing itself was five storeys tall, and the entirity of the floor was reserved for S-rank prisoners. The room we were taken to looked more like a vault than a hospital room. The door was made of four inches of solid steel, the entire room was filled with supression seal arrays which were deactivated for the time being and it lacked any outlet to the outside world save for a small vent and the door. The bed was bolted to the floor and Menma was promptly shackled to it after being laid. A supression seal was slapped on his forehead just for extra measure by the medical team who had come to check on his health. By the time everything settled down the four ANBU and my team were the only ones left waiting patiently for the Hokage and the medical director.

* * *

The Hokage along with his sole advisor and Okaa-san entered the room when I was checking the sunburns on the exposed part of Menma's face, burns which only he had got among us all. _Maybe that's why he is covered up entirely._

Okaa-san was the first to notice Menma lying on the bed, she froze midstep prompting her companions who were chatting among themselves to turn and stop too.

"Sakura, report!", Okaa-san barked hurrying over to Menma's bedside.

I was startled on hearing her tone, but to my credit I recovered quite quickly.

"I have put him in a reduced functional state. The rate of his vital functions are low but they are not damaged. It's been approximately twenty seven hours since I put him in this state.",I replied trying and succeeding in keeping my voice calm.

"You fools… you bloody fools.", Okaa-san kept mumbling under her breath as she ran a diagnosis on Menma.

"How many people saw you bring him into the village, Kakashi?", Hokage-sama asked Sensei with a pensive look on his face.

"My secretary informed me that team Kakashi have arrived at the west gate with a S ranked prisoner and that they were going to the hospital with a full Uchiha police squad. So, I think the better question would be, who didn't see them?", Otou-san said before Sensei could reply. Father's expression did not put me in any peace. He is a very cheerful man and I have seen him with such a solemn expression only a handful of times before.

By then me and my team were sure that we have fucked up royally because Menma really appeared to be an ally of the leaf. The only thing left to find out was how important of an ally he was. Nawaki was fidgeting continuously in his place, something he did when he was very nervous, his snow white hair appearing a little more wild with passing time. Sasuke and Sensei stood with stoic expressions but even they could not suppress their anxiety.

"He is alright, but I don't think he would be very happy to wake up in chains and that too in his own village.", Okaa-san spoke up from the opposite side of the bedside as she removed the supression seal.

"Remove the chains Tsunade, I will take you and him to the clan reserved section.", Hokage-sama said before turning to Otou-san, "Jiraya-sensei, we will be going on ahead. Bring team Kakashi to the clan section with you."

With that he moved to place his hands on the shoulders of Okaa-san and an unchained Menma before disappearing in an yellow flash.

The ANBU had slipped out of the room sometime during our conversation. So, my team and otou-san were the only ones currently occupying the room.

I was the first in my team to regain my voice, "Otou-san, who is he?"

"I will not sugar coat this Hime. You and your team are in deep trouble. Your actions have hurt the Leaf and may even lead to the death's of a few.", I was sure that my face has lost all colour, "The Council will most likely be convened to decide your fate, so as of now team Kakashi is being removed from active duty and put under suspension. I will give you some time to gather your thoughts, I will be waiting in the clan section of the hospital."

As the door closed behind father I became aware of the gloomy atmosphere in the room, my insides did not feel any better. I had warned my team but they didn't listen.

"Fuck!", I heard my brother yell before slumping into the abandoned bed. _Fuck indeed…_

"I warned you all but you didn't fucking listen. I asked you all to atleast listen to him but you didn't listen!", I felt my voice rise higher with every word. Anger was the only way for me to vent under pressure.

"Calm down, Sakura", Sasuke said. That bastard had the gall to ask me to calm down…

"Calm down? Calm down?! You were going to fucking behead him Sasuke.", I was hysteric by then. Sasuke glared at me but I glared back.

"Enough.", Sensei's calm voice cut through our tension. Nawaki had opted to stay out of it.

"Stop fighting among yourselves, I think I taught you better than that.", Sensei glared at us for extra measure before continuing, "I will take responsibility for all actions, you don't need…"

"You can't do that Sensei…!", Nawaki's panicked voice interrupted Sensei.

"I can and I will. I was the team leader for the mission, besides you all are still young and a lot to do. I can't possibly stand by and watch the careers of my cute little students end, can I?", he finished in a soft tone, giving us his famous eye smile in the end.

When we reached the executive cabin room in the clan section of the hospital, I didn't even see Otou-san standing there waiting for us. The name on the door had all my attention, and the chill that ran down my spine reminded me of my fight with Haku. I was sure none of my team mates were faring any better.

 **Namikaze Naruto, Clan Head (Namikaze).**

Honestly, why did we even accept that mission?

* * *

 **A/N** **: I honestly don't have any excuses for being so late, trash me all you want. Thank you for all the reviews, please keep reading and leave a review (even 'HI' would be appreciated)**


	3. Namikaze

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.**

* * *

 **Namikaze**

Namikaze… the legendary and mysterious clan of Konoha with an even more mysterious clan head. The clan itself is very young, formed late in the warring states era, and the smallest compared to the other prominent clans of Konoha but even then its influence is no less than any other. The clan even at its height consisted of only five members but even so no one dared to cross them. The clan held one of the three permanent seats along with the Senju and the Uchiha, although the term 'permanent' was only honorary signifying the three clans to be the first of Konoha. The seat was offered to the then clan head of the Namikaze by the First Hokage himself, and he was also rumored to have been the teacher of both the First and the Second Hokages. A shock of wild blonde hair, a shade darker than the Yamanakas but lighter than the few blonde Senjus, and electric blue eyes were the most distinguishing features of the clan.

The clan head of the Namikaze himself is a figure shrouded with legends and rumors, with no one brave or foolish enough to peer underneath the shroud to seek the truth. It is said that no living soul has seen the face of the Namikaze clan head and lived to spread the tale. _I must thank Gaara for stopping me, the next time I meet him._ The movements and whereabouts of the clan head is always a secret, but it is believed that whenever the village was in any dire need of help he would be present. The last time the clan head was in the village was more than twenty years ago during the attack by the Nine tailed Fox on the village, during which he was rumored to have been seriously injured in the fight against the Fox.

And now here I stood before the present Namikaze clan head with my team after practically kicking and dragging him around like a third rate missing ninja… Fuck my life.

I have come to this room before, being a medic myself. Although it was not very extravagant, a single bed in the middle of the room with a spacious window to its right, it was certainly better than the rooms available to the others. It even had electric bulbs, something that was rare even two decades after it was first introduced into the village because of the cost of producing electricity. Only the government buildings and rich households were wealthy enough to afford it. Hokage-sama sat by the bed on a chair, his disposition stern and serious. The person I was seeing was the ninja responsible for the genocide in the Iwa ranks during the Third Ninja war and the current leader of the village, not the cheery person who is our godfather and is bullied into eating contests at the festivals by Nawaki.

Okaa-san didn't look up to see us from where she was arranging the medication on the bedside table, on the other side of the bed. If she was looking at me I am sure I would see disappointment in her eyes. The Senju and the Namikaze were close, close enough to rival the ties between the Nara, the Akimichi and the Yamanaka. Therefore, it didn't look very good when both the clan heir and the current Senju princess treated the leader of the Namikaze with such disrespect.

The person in question was himself sitting up in the bed with his lower half covered with a thin sheet. He was wearing a hospital gown, but still had his cloth mask on. His arms were bare, except his right arm where everything below the elbow was covered in bandages. _Did we do that…?_ We were already on thin ice; we didn't need to add to our problems by injuring him too.

Before any one could say anything, Okaa-san was between me and Nawaki pulling us to the bedside.

"As the clan head of the Senju, I deeply apologize for the unacceptable behavior of my children. Please, forgive them.", Okaa-san bowed deeply.

Nawaki and I followed her example and apologized too. From the corner of my eyes I saw Sensei and Sasuke bow too, echoing our words of apology. Nawaki took the oppurtunity to take out the storage scroll, which contained the weapons we removed from Namikaze-sama, from his pouch and give it to him.

"It's very unlike you to apologize to me like that Tsunade.", Namikaze-sama said with a sigh as he took the scroll from Nawaki, his voice more relaxed than the last time we had heard him speak.

"Well, we have to keep up appearances, don't we?", Okaa-san replied in an indignant voice. He smiled on hearing mother's reply, at least that's what it looked like with the mask over his face.

 _Hey stop ignoring us…!_

"As for them", Namikaze–sama paused to point at me and my team, "I hold no grudge against them for my treatment under those circumstances…", I relaxed a little on hearing that, "but I will see to it that they are held responsible for the lives of all my subordinates, who were endangered by their actions."

The little relief I had felt vaporized with those words. I still didn't understand why we were held responsible for the lives of people whom we didn't even know, and considering all the secrecy I doubt we will be told.

"You will report to my office at ten in the morning tomorrow, where you will be handed your punishments. I have already asked the council to meet so you will know your punishment by then. Until then you are free to return to your homes. Do you have any questions?", it was Hokage-sama who spoke.

Taking our silence as his answer we were dismissed. We bowed again and turned to leave when Sensei was asked to stay back. I could feel the eyes of the occupants of the room on me as I exited the room and shut the door behind me.

As we stood outside the hospital I finally felt the fatigue crash down on me. The mission had turned out to be taxing both physically and mentally, on top of that our future was at risk.

"Why was his hair black?", Nawaki asked.

Sasuke groaned. I wanted to groan too, sometimes my brother had the habit of asking stupid questions in the most inappropriate times. It was his way of trying to cheer us up, and I know Sasuke knew it too.

"Hey! It's a legitimate question. Why does the Namikaze clan head have black hair?", Nawaki pouted with a hurt look. Moments like this reminded me of how much my brother resembled our father, always carefree and at peace.

"Ever heard of hair dye, dumbass?", Sasuke asked from where he was walking ahead of us.

Nawaki cursed and grumbled before shutting up as we walked back to our houses in silence.

"Something doesn't feel right about this whole thing.", Nawaki spoke again after a few moments of silence.

To a stranger at first glance Nawaki would appear to be a dumb brute, but the people who were close to him knew how perceptive he could be regarding certain things. Though it may not appear like it but he had inherited a lot of our mother's intelligence.

Sasuke nodded to show his agreement. So, it seems that I was not the only one with my doubts. Everyone seemed too prepared for the situation to be only a coincidence. If it was their intent to hide Namikaze-sama's whereabouts then why was he being practically put on display for the village by putting him in the clan section of the hospital. Then again there could always be other reasons, anyway I was too tired to think any further on the matter and decided to think about it in the morning.

* * *

"The council meeting will be held at ten tonight in here, you need to be there Tsunade.", Minato said.

"If you want me gone, at least dismiss me properly idiot.", Tsunade growled.

Naruto, Kakashi and Jiraya sniggered from their places, while Minato only managed a nervous chuckle.

"I will see to it that the Ichimarus are informed of your arrival so that they can prepare the compound for your stay, Namikaze-sama.", Tsunade said before turning to leave.

The previous tense atmosphere in the presence of the three young jounin had now dissipated into a relaxed one. Instead of a meeting of village leaders it looked more like a gathering of old friends. Naruto was the first to break the silence after Tsunade shut the door behind her.

"For a moment I really thought that you didn't recognize me Kakashi. Your acting skills have improved greatly."

Kakashi whose face in the presence of his former students had been the picture of calm and stoic appeared to have regained its usual nonchalance, his right hand holding his treasured book, as he answered, " Mah, mah, you are making me blush Namikaze-sama."

A burst of laughter greeted Kakashi's statement.

"So, how long before they realize something's wrong?", Naruto asked after every one settled down and pulled up chairs.

"Not long. Nawaki will most likely be the first to feel something's off.", Minato was the one who replied.

"Really…? He doesn't look that smart. I thought Itachi's brother or Jiraya's daughter would be the first to be suspicious.", Naruto said, his expression showing his disbelief.

"People have a habit of underestimating Nawaki at first glance, but in reality he is quite smart.", Jiraya said with pride.

"Can't really blame the people, after all you are his father.", Naruto said amidst another bout of laughter and Jiraya's indignant yells.

The four gossiping occupants of the room failed to notice the time fly by, and at least appeared to have not noticed the space in the right corner of the room starting to distort. The space continued to distort in shape until it resembled a whirlpool and a person stepped out of it.

Four heads turned to watch the intruder. His entire being was covered in a black cloak, with its hood pulled up, and his face was covered with a white mask with red stripes resembling those of a tiger. Naruto turned his head to glance at the clock in the room. It showed the time to be a quarter past eight.

"Now, before I kill you tell me why you were an hour late?", Naruto was the first to speak,

"Well, you see today the black cat was really clever and on top of that it had brought its family alongwith…", three kunai hitting the wall right behind his head cut off his reply. To any observer it seemed that the kunais had passed right through the masked man's head.

"One more word about black cats crossing your path and I will make sure to castrate you, Obito.", even the usually calm Minato proved that he had a limit to his patience.

Obito laughed as he took off his hood and mask. A black patch covered what used to be his left eye, and the right side of his face was scarred. Both reminders of his rough past and the consequent struggles.

"I know you all love me, but was it really necessary to throw those kunai? What if they hit my head? "

"If that had killed you, then the village would have been better off without you as the future Godaime. Also, Minato would sleep better without you dropping out anywhere an hour or two late. ", Naruto replied.

"You are so mean, Namikaze-sama.", Obito then paused to bow before continuing, "Good evening, Hokage-sama, Jiraya-sama, Namikaze-sama… Baka-kashi. "

"I think you missed one 'sama', dumbass.", Kakashi said from where he had taken a seat beside the bed, flipping a page in his prized book.

"I will remember to bite off my tongue the day I say that, scarecrow.", Obito replied with a smirk, confident in his victory.

"You say something…?", Kakashi asked, his posture showing that he had lost all interest in the conversation.

Deciding that the childish banter had gone long enough and seeing Obito ready to pounce on Kakashi, Naruto decided to intervene.

"Obito did every one finish their jobs?"

Obito immediately straightened as he prepared to deliver his report.

"All the members of the missions have been safely extracted by me, only Snake has a kunai wound in his shoulder. Here's the report of their missions; Rat, Bore and Snake have successfully assassinated the Utatane group's leader. The absence of their leader has created chaos and the slaves who had been previously supplied with weapons by us have rebelled. Tiger and Horse has successfully instigated a conflict in the ranks of the Tanizaki drug dealers. The eldest son of the leader has murdered his father and is currently fighting for control of the gang with his father's loyalists. Crane has poisoned Mizushi Saito with the first part of the two stage poison and handed the second dose to his rival gang members. All three missions have been declared as a success. Also, as you planned Sai's team has successfully identified Cloud's spy when she tried to pass information regarding your appearance in the village. The details are in this scroll.", Obito stepped forward to hand Naruto the scroll

"Good, it seems everyone has done an excellent job. Now for the next part, as the Hokage and I have decided; Tiger and Crane will be declared dead tomorrow. They will then proceed to go deep undercover to infiltrate the smugglers operating in the borders between the lands of Fire, Wind and Earth. According to your previous reports, they are likely supporting the Akatsuki financially. The mission particulars will be handed to you in the morning by Hokage-sama. Also, I am recalling you and Sai into the village. Mantis and Dragon will take your respective posts. Do you have anything to add, Hokage-sama?", Naruto turned to Minato.

"No. We will discuss about Cloud's spy at the end of the council meeting today. I want Obito and Kakashi to stay for the meeting. As the future Godaime and his second in command it will be a valuable experience.", Minato paused to look at Obito and Kakashi, and after two simultaneous nods turned to Jiraya, "Do you have any objections Jiraya-sensei?"

"No.", was the simple answer, but before Minato could continue Kakashi raised his hand to speak.

"What is it, Kakashi?"

"I suppose my team will be held responsible for the deaths of Tiger and Crane, but will that not result in them getting shunned by the other Shinobi of the village?"

"Tiger and Crane are a part of my ROOT, Kakashi. The death of ROOT members is not disclosed to the general Shinobi but kept within select circles. In this case, the information will be limited to a select few and then leaked to the spies.", Naruto answered the question and then continued, "Understand this Kakashi, your team will not be a victim in this. There is a reason why Jiraya, Minato and I have decided to remove them from the field while fabricating such crimes and we will discuss that at the meeting."

"Alright, since we are all done with the meetings and it's still only half past eight who's up for some poker?!", Jiraya yelled in jubilation amidst sighs and one cheer from Obito.

"One condition, Kakashi must bet that special edition Icha Icha he is holding in his hands.", Naruto quickly added.

Kakashi's horrified expression precisely showed off his raging thoughts at that comment. The Namikaze were also the possessor of the Devil's luck.

*/*/*/

The Hokage, his advisor, the Namikaze clan head, Hatake Kakashi and a cloaked shinobi were playing poker on the bed. Inuzuka Tsume was trying to help Kakashi cheat, while Sarutobi Asuma was laughing at him. Aburame Shibi sat on a chair beside Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chouza, calmly observing the scene. The Nara was dozing off while his former team mates were betting on who had the best hand. Uchiha Fugaku was trying to keep a disinterested look but horribly failing at it. Lastly, entirely ignored by the others stood Senju Tsunade who was shouting at the Hokage for damaging the hospital, pointing at a part of the wall where three Kunai marks could be seen clearly.

That was the scene that greeted Hyuga Hiashi as he entered the hospital cabin for the council meeting; apparently he was the last to arrive. A most peculiar place to call a meeting in, was what the Hyuga had noted when he got the notice. Hearing the newcomer Minato turned from the game to look at Hiashi.

"Hiashi's here so we can start the meeting." Minato announced amidst groans and protests from Kakashi who was trying to win his book back, "Before we start I would like to inform the council that Uchiha Obito, the current vice commander of ROOT, and Hatake Kakashi will be attending as the future Godaime and his second in command." Minato introduced them as they bowed to the council.

Hiashi raised an eyebrow in curiosity. The scarred face and black eye patch was not something that he remembered associating with Obito, the last time he saw him over twenty years ago. He remembered a goggle wearing idiotic boy with a grin always on his face, not a battle hardened face with such a gravitating and serious look. Of course, he like every Konoha shinobi had heard the exploits of the Shinigami of Konoha. So, when Minato had personally put forward his name for the position of the Godaime, it had been unanimously agreed to.

After everyone had found a chair and settled down, Minato turned to Naruto and nodded.

"I called this meeting today to discuss the village's most immediate and serious threat. Uchiha Madara and Akatsuki are finally on the move."

* * *

 **A/N: THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS, FAVS AND FOLLOWS. THE REVIEWS WERE REALLY ENCOURAGING SO PLEASE CONTINUE TO SUPPORT.**

 **ALSO, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING. THERE HAS BEEN A RECENT INCREASE IN UNACCEPTABLE AND DOWNRIGHT VULGAR ANONYMOUS REVIEWS IN NARUSAKU WRITERS' STORIES. I WILL NOT TOLERATE SUCH NONSENSICAL REVIEWS AND THEY WILL BE DELETED. EVEN THEN IF YOU INSIST ON WRITING SUCH IDIOTIC REVIEWS BE SURE TO USE AN ACCOUNT...**


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